Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Play on light...

Tried something different today.  Added a new element to my photography today.  I used a much smaller light source combined with an extended exposure time.  Still did a little adjusting in Lightroom and PS5, but I kind of like the look and feel.

Still much to learn...

Do we ever stop learning?

I hope not!





Perhaps, still a little dark, but I didn't want to blow out the lighter sections.  Looks a lot better the bigger it is.


Click on the picture for a bigger view.


Let me know what you think.  All comments are appreciated and welcomed....

Friday, June 10, 2011

When you least expect it....

The bears are rather restless this year and I have seen more bears this year then the total of bears that I have seen in the last eleven years. 

I live in a basement apartment in a friends house but I have access to the entire house.  Just about a week ago I was in my room editing some photos I had just taken, when I heard a rather loud noise upstairs.  So, I went up to investigate.  Got to the top of the stairs and I could see a dark shadow at the front door.  Walk to the front door and looked out the side window and there it was, a bear and it had ripped the humming bird feeder down off the side of the house and was drinking the sugar water.

 

As soon as I banged on the door it got up and ran off to the side of the house.  I ran downstairs and grabbed my camera, switched out my macro lens for something that would give me a little distance and shot out through the garage door just in time to almost bump into the bear that was coming back down the driveway.  We looked at one another and he ran off into my neighbors yard.  I followed at a safe distance and this is what I captured.






So the final tally is one dead bird feeder, one dead humming bird feeder and pole and  one surviving igloo cooler.

I have a feeling by the multi tags in his/her ears that it has had a few run ins with a game warden or two and I can only guess that the box around its neck must be a tracking device.


Any ways our friendly bear sauntered up the driveway, across the street and off into the day.  I'm sure it will be back, or one of the others, that have been stopping by for a bite or two.  This was definitely one of the smaller ones.

Oh, just a little side note.  The bears seemed to have open their own little cafe in the woods right behind the house.  Probably once a week, we have to go into the woods and pick up the remains of trash that the bears leave laying all about.  We have gathered that this must be a collection of trash from few of the neighbors homes just by the looks of the remains.  I have thought about putting up a sign that says "the Bear Cafe" "Please pick up after you are finished" Hey, what are you going to do!  Live and let live...

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

White Columbine

My white columbines are in bloom for a few more days so I thought I had better get out there and get some pictures taken before they're gone for another year.  Have three different views.  What do you think and which is your is your favorite?

Love to hear from you...

is there anyone out there.... 

Opps, Pink Floyd playing in the back ground.






But seriously, always love to get others input.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

He came in through the bedroom window...


Have been living in the northwest corner of this state for, oh, over eleven years and have never once seen a Luna moth.  Well that ended this evening.  My house mate was surprised by this male Luna moth (she is going to probably kill me for posting this second picture).  Of course the second picture is perfect because it really gives you an idea of this magnificent moths size.
The sad part of this encounter is that I found out that the male Luna Moth only lives for one week.  Seems that it does not have a mouth and its only purpose is to breed.  I'm sure you probably are saying, "well, how do you know it's a male, been checking...lol"  But according to the article I read it says that the males have the bushier antennas.  Of course, the fact that he decided to visit my housemate should have been another indicator of his gender.

Guess you never know when a photographic opportunity will present itself. Well, have a nice evening.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Back side, looking up...



Two shots from different angles of the same purple/blue anemone.  Thought they might look good hung opposite one another.




Finally getting a grip on the editing in Lightroom 3 combined with PS5.  Still it would be nice to be able to do everything in one program.  Really slows down the computer going back and forth.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Another Day, another flower...





Fabulous purple anemone.  I really love the way this came out.  The lighting really makes this come alive!

As soon as I get my butt in gear this will be available in various size prints and cards in my Artfire Shop.

Will also get a link up to my other pages soon...

Thanks for putting up with me and being patient!